Those who can have always escaped Houston's summer. Back in 1917, Minnie Fisher Cunningham, a leader of the Texas suffragette movement, wrote a colleague to complain that she was "tired of the class women who are financially able to go away during the summer and who regularly refuse to make the sacrifice of staying and devoting that time and money to the cause," according to an article in Houston History Magazine.

Women like Cunningham who supported the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, marched, lectured and lobbied for decades before its ratification 94 years ago this month. In fact, many of the original suffragettes didn't live to see their work come to fruition. Almost a century later, Texas is consistently near the bottom for voter participation. In the 2010 election, only about 26 percent of state residents over 18 years of age turned out to vote, according to the Texas Secretary of State's website. One can guess the reaction that Cunningham and the other suffragettes would have to those who don't exercise the right that Cunningham and others worked so long and hard to secure.

From the beginning, the movement for female enfranchisement was tied to public health issues such as the betterment of workplace conditionsand the fight against alcoholism and child labor. Its overarching goal was social progress. The heightened awareness of public health was an enduring legacy.

It's no mystery that women have a unique perspective; traditionally, women have done more than their fair share of caring for the young and old in our society. These vulnerable members of society - the young and old - are not a special-interest group.

All Americans fall into one of these categories at least once in their lives and must depend on others to sustain them.

Early fears that women would vote as a bloc have proved wrong. Women's political views fall across the entire range of the ideological spectrum. But the voices of women deserve to be heard in voting booths and in the halls of government, just as they should be in every family.

Our country is better when more citizens vote. Women who consider shirking this duty should remember the barriers that had to be overcome and the ideals that inspired generations of women such as Cunningham to fight for what we take for granted.

Oct. 6 is the deadline to register to vote in the upcoming Nov. 4 election. Children watch what their parents do, even if they don't listen to what they say. This generation of strong women needs to offer role models for the next generation's strong girls.